New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill aimed at preventing culprits from evading the legal process and fleeing the country. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha last week.


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(Also Read--Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill: Key highlights)


The new law is different from the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, which also provides for confiscation of assets of economic offenders. The Bill was been proposed to address the lacunae in the present laws and lay down measures to deter economic offenders from evading the process of Indian law by remaining outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts.


The law, though it was announced in the Budget for 2017-18, has been hastened after Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi allegedly defrauded state-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) of Rs 12,700 crore and left the country and are refusing to cooperate with law enforcement agencies.